No
by Ecrire
Summary: Itachi and Sasuke. It could've been so right. But when you're an Uchiha, things like brothers don't exist. Now continued, ficlets on Itachi and his childhood.
1. Chapter 1

A little character piece about Itachi and his relationship with Sasuke. If you have a veiw about the character tell me, I need help filling it out.

Standard Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me, because then I would be, like, their parent and I never want kids this screwed up.

* * *

**No. **

The first clear memory Itachi had as a child was the word 'No'.

An Uchiha didn't go frog chasing in the pond with the others.

And it didn't stop there.

An Uchiha didn't play with other non-Uchihas.

An Uchiha didn't run around at the cherry blossom viewing festival.

An Uchiha didn't become a sailor.

An Uchiha didn't eat dango on the street corner.

An Uchiha didn't...an Uchiha didn't...an Uchiha didn't...

An Uchiha was defined from birth.

It was all Itachi knew as a life.

So Itachi bowed and conformed until _he_ was born.

Sasuke.

His little brother.

The first person ever to look at him without expectations, to smile at him just because he walked into the room.

Itachi was happier than he'd ever been.

He felt loved.

Of course it couldn't last, dreams never did.

Piece by piece he watched the love drop out of his brother's eyes and Itachi started to hate. With every piece of taught envy that took that love's place Itachi felt his hate harden.

Little by little he watched the wonder which was that baby stunted and shaped by those all defining words.

"No. You're an Uchiha."

Until one day he looked into those no longer loving eyes and saw what their family had created.

Not brothers, rivals.

Then, finally, he understood what he wanted.

Freedom.

The right to choose for himself what he wanted, how people would look at him.

All he had to do was choose.

Uchiha or Itachi?

And he chose.

But looking into Sasuke's eyes he remembered his first dream. He might have forever lost his brother's love, but that didn't mean he had to lose his brother.

"Hate me."

After all the opposite of love wasn't hate. And if Sasuke hated him then he would still have something that was all Sasuke, something that wasn't a trained response.

Something that was just theirs, a link.

Brother to brother.

And noone would ever tell either of them 'No,' again.

* * *

Ahhh, another plot bunny safely tucked away. 


	2. Kyuubi

I decided I had enough ideas to persue the idea of Itachi's motivation. I have a couple of chapters written in no particular timeline order sorry. So in this one Itachi's about 10-11 a chunnin, and Kyuubi's come calling. There might be a second part.

Standard Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of the characters, nor do I intend to profit from using them.

* * *

**Kyuubi**

There was fire and yelling, and many buildings were in danger. Itachi moved quickly and quietly. The Uchiha clan was going into action, the Kyuubi had approached dangerously close and the Fourth had finally given the order to abandon trying to save the villagers and the buildings. They were going to wage war on a God.

He found his father first, standing in their garden giving orders. A tight circle of Uchiha cousins and uncles listened grimly, the fires burning in the houses around them lighting their faces in ways that turned them into statues of war.

Itachi took his place next to an uncle and waited to be told what to do.

"Itachi!"

The high panicked voice of his mother turned them all around. She stood in the door way of their house, heavy with his brother. Her stomach was grotesquely huge and even under the layers of loose clothing it was visable she was in the last weeks of pregnancy.

"Itachi!" She called again.

Itachi turned his back on her pleading motions to come to her. He was Chunnin, soon he would take the Jounin exams, his place was here.

An elderly aunt appeared and tried to herd the panicked woman off the porch and towards the wagon that would evacuate her towards the relative safety of the Hokage cliffs.

"Fugaku! Don't send him! Fugaku, he's our baby!"

Itachi reflected that the hour must be grave if even the proud Uchihas were leaving their compound to hide like rats in the tunnel infested mountains.

His father frowned, which was all the encouragement the old aunt needed. She took his mother's arm and physically hustled her down the steps and into the wagon. His mother was trying not to cry, at least she still had some pride Itachi reflected. His father wouldn't look in her direction.

Itachi received his orders after his mother's wagon had rolled out of sight.


End file.
